Doctors and Patients at War?

The Baltimore Sun published a well written rant about the deterioration of the doctor-patient relationship. The editorial stems from the well publicized shooting at Johns Hopkins by a man distraught about his mother’s medical treatment. The writer paints an awful picture of a war between doctors and patients that is beginning to boil over.

I can tell you that none of this is going on in my doctor’s office. But I don’t know what is going on elsewhere. The author appears to be someone in the “know” but there is no explanation of the author’s frame of reference. I would have expected the author to be indentified as a doctor or other health care provider. (A quick Google search indicated the author was a writer which would make sense. The piece is well-written, florid and dramatic.)

The author sees the problems as a symptom of the “erosion of civility, humility and reason across America.” I could not disagree more. Certainly, minorities, women, gays and lesbians, and many others have experienced an increase in civility and reason. The good ole days never really were. I’ll take 2010 over any other year in human history.